Whoever then would be free, let him wish for nothing, let him decline nothing, which depends on others; else he must necessarily be a slave.

Those who are well constituted in the body endure both heat and cold: and so those who are well constituted in the soul endure both anger and grief and excessive joy and the other affects.

For it is not death or pain that is to be feared, but the fear of pain or death.

If thy brother wrongs thee, remember not so much his wrong-doing, but more than ever that he is thy brother.

An ignorant person is inclined to blame others for his own misfortune. To blame oneself is proof of progress. But the wise man never has to blame another or himself.

For sheep don't throw up the grass to show the shepherds how much they have eaten; but, inwardly digesting their food, they outwardly produce wool and milk.

Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire.

As a man, casting off worn out garments taketh new ones, so the dweller in the body, entereth into ones that are new.

A city is not adorned by external things, but by the virtue of those who dwell in it.

Be free from grief not through insensibility like the irrational animals, nor through want of thought like the foolish, but like a man of virtue by having reason as the consolation of grief.

Men are disturbed not by the things which happen, but by the opinion about the things.

What saith Antisthenes? Hast thou never heard?— It is a kingly thing, O Cyrus, to do well and to be evil spoken of.

Men are disturbed not by the things which happen, but by the opinions about the things:

Whoever does not regard what he has as most ample wealth, is unhappy, though he be master of the world.

If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.

The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.

It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.

Any person capable of angering you becomes your master; he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him.

Other people's views and troubles can be contagious. Don't sabotage yourself by unwittingly adopting negative, unproductive attitudes through your associations with others.

You are a little soul carrying around a corpse

First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak.

Attach yourself to what is spiritually superior, regardless of what other people think or do. Hold to your true aspirations no matter what is going on around you.

Don't seek to have events happen as you wish, but wish them to happen as they do happen, and all will be well with you.

Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly.

Preach not to others what they should eat, but eat as becomes you and be silent.

If you would be a reader, read; if a writer, write.

It is not so much what happens to you as how you think about what happens." Epictetus

If you wish to be a writer, write.

Know you not that a good man does nothing for appearance sake, but for the sake of having done right?

Demand not that things happen as you wish, but wish them to happen as they do, and you will go on well.

-….when things seem to have reached that stage, merely say “I won’t play any longer”, and take your departure; but if you stay, stop lamenting.

If someone speaks badly of you, do not defend yourself against the accusations, but reply; "you obviously don't know about my other vices, otherwise you would have mentioned these as well

On the occasion of every accident that befalls you, remember to turn to yourself and inquire what power you have for turning it to use.

You may fetter my leg, but Zeus himself cannot get the better of my free will.

No great thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.

Imagine for yourself a character, a model personality, whose example you determine to follow, in private as well as in public.

-Who are those people by whom you wish to be admired? Are they not these whom you are in the habit of saying that they are mad? What then? Do you wish to be admired by the mad?

If you seek Truth, you will not seek to gain a victory by every possible means; and when you have found Truth, you need not fear being defeated.

It is better to do wrong seldom and to own it, and to act right for the most part, than seldom to admit that you have done wrong and to do wrong often.

[Do not get too attached to life] for it is like a sailor's leave on the shore and at any time, the captain may sound the horn, calling you back to eternal darkness.

Keep the prospect of death, exile and all such apparent tragedies before you every day – especially death – and you will never have an abject thought, or desire anything to excess.

In banquets remember that you entertain two guests, body and soul: and whatever you shall have given to the body you soon eject: but what you shall have given to the soul, you keep always.

Your happiness depends on three things, all of which are within your power: your will, your ideas concerning the events in which you are involved, and the use you make of your ideas.

The philosopher's school, ye men, is a surgery: you ought not to go out of it with pleasure, but with pain. For you are not in sound health when you enter.

Nothing great comes into being all at once, for that is not the case even with a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me now, ‘I want a fig,’ I’ll reply, ‘That takes time.

Take care not to hurt the ruling faculty of your mind. If you were to guard against this in every action, you should enter upon those actions more safely.

Freedom is the only worthy goal in life. It is won by disregarding things that lie beyond our control.

A ship should not ride on a single anchor, nor life on a single hope

Give me by all means the shorter and nobler life, instead of one that is longer but of less account!

Don't live by your own rules, but in harmony with nature